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. 2023 Aug 11;11(16):2272.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare11162272.

Facing the Shadow Pandemic: Correlation and Trend Analyses of Violence Reports from Women to the Italian National Anti-Violence Number during 2021

Antonio Del Casale  1   2 , Jessica Pileri  1 , Giorgio Veneziani  1 , Antonio Napolitano  3 , Martina Nicole Modesti  4 , Barbara Adriani  5 , Benedetta Barchielli  1 , Giovanna Parmigiani  1 , Francesco Grassi  3 , Christian Napoli  6   7 , Stefano Ferracuti  7   8 , Carlo Lai  1
Affiliations

Facing the Shadow Pandemic: Correlation and Trend Analyses of Violence Reports from Women to the Italian National Anti-Violence Number during 2021

Antonio Del Casale et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Objectives: To help to tackle gender-based violence against women in the aftermath of COVID-19 or other potential crisis situations, as recommended by the European Institute for Gender Equality, the present study aims to investigate the relationship between calls to the National Anti-violence Number (NAN) and the socio-sanitary pandemic factors during 2021, a period in which the scenario changed due to containment measures that gradually allowed women to emerge from the condition of isolation. In addition, the present work aims to identify significant changes in the number of calls to NAN during the progression of the pandemic in 2021.

Methods: Using Italian Civil Protection Department data on the socio-sanitary pandemic factors (defined by daily number of cases, swabs, deaths, hospitalizations, dismissions, intensive care unit hospitalizations, people isolated at home, and quarantine after 15 and 30 days) and NAN data. Correlation analyses, a joinpoint regression analysis, and Granger causality tests were performed.

Results: The number of calls correlated with the daily number of cases, swabs, deaths, hospitalizations, dismissions, intensive care unit hospitalizations, and quarantine after 15 and 30 days. The identified joinpoints showed significant changes in the number of daily anti-violence calls during the year. Furthermore, we found evidence of a significant causality between daily hospitalizations, daily home quarantined, daily dismissed patients, and calls to NAN.

Conclusions: The results underline the influence of containment measures on the increased access to NAN, suggesting the need for a greater implementation of social and psychological support services in other potential crisis situations.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; battered women; interpersonal violence; mental health; quarantine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plots of the considered variables divided by months. (a) Daily calls to the national anti-violence number; (b) daily cases (DC); (c) daily swabs (DS); (d) daily deaths (DD); (e) daily hospitalizations (DH); (f) daily intensive care unit hospitalizations (D-ICU-H); (g) daily dismissed patients (DDP); (h) the daily number of people quarantined at home (DHQ); (i) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 15; and (j) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 30 days.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plots of the considered variables divided by months. (a) Daily calls to the national anti-violence number; (b) daily cases (DC); (c) daily swabs (DS); (d) daily deaths (DD); (e) daily hospitalizations (DH); (f) daily intensive care unit hospitalizations (D-ICU-H); (g) daily dismissed patients (DDP); (h) the daily number of people quarantined at home (DHQ); (i) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 15; and (j) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 30 days.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plots of the considered variables divided by months. (a) Daily calls to the national anti-violence number; (b) daily cases (DC); (c) daily swabs (DS); (d) daily deaths (DD); (e) daily hospitalizations (DH); (f) daily intensive care unit hospitalizations (D-ICU-H); (g) daily dismissed patients (DDP); (h) the daily number of people quarantined at home (DHQ); (i) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 15; and (j) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 30 days.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plots of the considered variables divided by months. (a) Daily calls to the national anti-violence number; (b) daily cases (DC); (c) daily swabs (DS); (d) daily deaths (DD); (e) daily hospitalizations (DH); (f) daily intensive care unit hospitalizations (D-ICU-H); (g) daily dismissed patients (DDP); (h) the daily number of people quarantined at home (DHQ); (i) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 15; and (j) the daily quarantines postponed (DQP) by 30 days.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Granger causality test: variables Granger causing violence daily calls (daily hospitalizations). (b) Granger causality test: variables Granger causing violence daily calls (daily home quarantined). (c) Granger causality test: variables Granger causing violence daily calls (daily dismissed patients).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Granger causality test: variables Granger causing violence daily calls (daily hospitalizations). (b) Granger causality test: variables Granger causing violence daily calls (daily home quarantined). (c) Granger causality test: variables Granger causing violence daily calls (daily dismissed patients).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Daily number of calls to the national anti-violence number from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021. * Indicates that the daily percent change (DPC) significantly differs from zero at the alpha = 0.05 level.
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